Advent UK creates your Company in Malta, for you wherever you are resident.
COUNTRY:
Malta.
Malta Limited Liability Company. The term 'offshore' is used in Malta
only in the 'Offshore Company', which has been phased out in favour
of the International Trading and Holding Company (ITC and IHC) forms.
Non-residence is a key criterion for obtaining offshore tax treatment
in most situations.
______________
SOME
LEGAL EXPLANATIONS:
Legal
form:
Maltese company law derives chiefly from civil or 'Roman' law, rather
than common law. A new Companies Act 1995 replaced the old Commercial
Partnerships Ordinance, and set up a new regime for commercial entities
under the Registrar of Companies. By far the most usual form that businessmen
and/or corporations prefer is the private company limited by shares.
Limited Liability Company may take the form of a private company or
public company.
Name
of the company: Malta companies must use the suffix Limited or Ltd.
to denote limited liability and can use any name unless it includes
words such as Empire, Crown, Imperial, Windsor, Royal, Chartered or
Municipal. Special consent is required for names such as Bank, Insurance,
European, Maltese or International.
Memorandum
and Articles of Association: To register a limited liability company,
Memorandum and Articles of Association must be prepared by a licensed
law practitioner and filed at the Office of the Registrar of Companies.
A limited liability company may be registered by the shareholders or
their authorized agent. In practice, a local firm of lawyers, accountants
or consultants is engaged to carry out all necessary formalities. Memorandum
specifies the activities in which the company may engage and Articles
of Association specifies the rules governing the internal management
of the company.
Shareholders:
The number of shareholders in a private Limited Liability Company may
be from 2 to 50. Single member companies can be incorporated under certain
conditions. Details of shareholders appear on the public file but anonymity
can be preserved by the use of nominee shareholders. Shareholders may
be individuals or corporate. Bearer shares cannot be issued.
The
minimum share capital: Maltese limited liability company may be
registered with authorized share capital of ML 500, which is the maximum
share capital that attracts the minimum capital duty. 20% of the authorized
share capital must be paid up.
Directors
of the company and company secretary: The minimum number of directors
is one, who may be corporate or individual. The full name, nationality,
residential address and occupation together with copy of the passport
are required. Details of the directors appear on the public file but
anonymity can be preserved by the use of nominee directors.
Registered
office and secretary: Every company registered in Malta is required
to have a registered office and address in Malta, which should be notified
at the Registrar's Office. It is also required that a Maltese resident
secretary is appointed.
Taxation:
Maltese companies incorporated after 01/01/1995 are considered as being
resident in Malta for tax purposes irrespective of the place of management
and control.
- International
Trading Company (ITC)- An International Trading Company (ITC) is
a normal onshore Maltese company registered in Malta, which is allowed
to carry on trading activities from Malta but is not allowed to trade
in Malta. Moreover its trading activities must be confined to persons
who are not resident in Malta. The ITC is itself a very tax efficient
instrument for shareholders not resident in Malta. At the end of the
accounting year, the ITC being a normal onshore company, pays company
tax at the normal rate of 35% on trading profits; however a system of
tax refunds and imputations made to the non-resident shareholders ensures
that once the profits are distributed to the non-resident shareholders,
they directly receive a refund of 30.83% and therefore the effective
tax rate is only 4.17%.
- International
Holding Company (IHC) - An International Holding Company (IHC) is
a company resident in Malta formed with the object of holding overseas
investments and to distribute that income to non-residents. Non-resident
shareholders of IHCs qualify for a full refund of the Maltese tax paid
by the company on profits and gains arising from “participating
holdings” when such profits are distributed. While IHCs are subject
to the normal corporate tax rate of 35%, the extensive network of double
taxation agreements, together with the full imputation system of taxation
and provisions for tax refunds contained in the legislation make Malta
a very tax efficient jurisdiction for non-resident shareholders. Non-resident
shareholders qualify for a full refund of the Malta tax paid by a company
on profits and gains arising from “participating holdings”
when such profits are distributed.
Audit
and financial returns: All Malta registered companies must file
annual returns showing details of shareholders and directors and must
submit their audited accounts.
Meetings:
Company meetings need not be held in Malta.
Time
needed for formation: Usually it is 10 working day, but we need
up to 30 working days for legalization of the documents and delivery
by courier.
Your turn key MALTA Company.
Advent UK creates your Company in Malta, for you wherever you are resident.
